Button blank feeding apparatus



KNOT'M BUTTON BLANK FEEDING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 11, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet1 Jam ATTORNEY 1 (W. 19, 1940.1, w KNQTT 2,222,179

BUTTON BLANK FEEDING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 11, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Patented Nov. 19, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BUTTON BLANK FEEDINGAPPARATUS Warren E. Knott, Newark, N. J., assignor to Excelsior PearlWorks, 1110., Next York, N. Y., a corporation of New York ApplicationOctober 11, 1938, Serial No. 234,369

9 Claims. (01. 79-17) This invention relates to button manufacture,attempts to overcome them. It has been proand, more particularly, aimsto provide a novel posed, for instance, in U. S. patent to me No. andvaluable means for automatically delivering 817,122, dated April 3,1906, to provide a rotary button blanks one by one to a succession ofcarrier for a plurality of the blanks so con- 51 moving holders for theblanks, which holders structed and operating that the blanks can be formparts of a machine for operating on the manually supplied thereto at aspeed exceeding blanks, as a machine operable to face or drill the thatat which they will be required to be supplied blanks. one by one to ameans for delivering them one In a well-known such machine, thatdisclosed by one to the spindle seats; but the problem has In in U. S.patent to Barry No. 766,014, dated July not been solved, before thepresent invention, of 10 26, 1904, and known among buttonmanufacturproviding a satisfactory such delivery means eners, andhereinafter referred to, as the Barry matirely mechanical in character,simple and rugged chine, the blank holders are present as a plurality inconstruction, and entirely reliable in operaof upstanding columnarunits, known as spindles, tion.

guided and driven for bodily movement at a A previously proposedunsatisfactory such deconstant rate of speed along an endless path; veryme a p p in the patent to said path having two straight stretches,interme aforesaid, included a blank-receptor in the vening with twoarcuately curved stretches lying shape of a table overlying a line oftravel of the along the fields of operation of the facing and spindles,and an ejector operated by movement on drilling instrumentalities. Thespindles, each of the spindle to slide the blank fiat along the carryingat its top a depressed horizontal seat table. The aim was by thushandling the blank for a blank, such seat of a diameter nearly tocauseamovement of the blank so accompanymatching that of the blank,travel continuously ing that of the spindle that the blank could be at auniform speed past a blank feeding station depended on to drop flat intothe spindle seat,

located intermediate the length of one of said solely by gravity,incidental to passage of the 25 straight stretches. A greater or lessnumber of latter beyond the discharge edge of the table. spindles passthe feeding station, per minute, de- The defects which resulted in theabandonment pending on the speed at which the machine is of thisproposal arose in part from the fact that run. An attendant is seated atsaid station, facthe ejecto was given its blank-advancing moveing a trayhaving the button blanks therein, and e as an ac omp me t of t e OC y an30 it is the task of this attendant, by periodically v n n spin l f afin p v n a axis picking up a plurality of the blanks, several atrelative to which the spindle moved during the a time or one by one, andby manipulating them blank advance. The coaction between the spinwithher finger tips, to endeavor to keep pace dle and finger W s uc t W t pd with the successively passing spindles by propovin at a constant rateof speed, the accomerly placing a blank in each seat. The rate of nanyis win ing f the finge caused the ejecspeed usually adopted for runningthe machine, 01" to move at a Continuously varyi p 80 although it couldbe run faster, is such that that it was impossible to slide the blankOiT the about '72 spindles pass the attendant per minute, ab in u W y sto insure that the blank 40 this to face or drill approximately 30 grossof w d d p l y y gravity, and sur ly sq ly 40 blanks per hour. The usualattendant, however, o e Se n a er at What instant y is able only to feeda blank to every other spindle blank app e by its W Weight, the as itpasses her, or to only two out of each three; en o s p ject b y the b totilt so that the average maximum production per for fall from the table.

machine is down around 160 or 170 gross, instead By the presentinvention, the ejec is ve of 240 gross, per 8-hour day. Furthermore, theits blank-advancing IDOVBmEHt y the Spindle t0 attendant must work veryrapidly, while physithe seat of which such blank is to be delivered,cally and nervously tensed rather than relaxed, and by the action of d pe against 5a D and t the finger tips near their most n ioted finger, butin combination with means which tive nerves constantly punished from thewear Control the m vements o t e finger d aotu- 50 and tear ofmanipulating the blanks to fit them ator in such manner that the blank,during all rapidly one after another in their seats. the period from theinstant when it first begins For a reat many years, these diflicultiesin to be projected off the table until the tail end operating the Barrymachine havebeen a seriof the blank completely clears the table, ismoved 5 cos handicap to the art, and subject to various at the samespeed as the spindle, and along a straight-line path of travel, and withthe center of the blank held precisely vertically over the center of thespindle seat. With the parts controlled in this way, a blank is surelydelivered to each and every spindle seat, with absolute certainty thatit fully enters said seat to fall fiat therein.

Other features of the invention have to do with an improved means forguiding a blank from the carrier for supply to the table; for guidingthe blank during such supply to insure its placement in proper relationto the ejector; for positively limiting the blank to a definite path oftravel during a blank-feeding movement of the ejector; for automaticallymodifying the means last-named to avoid jamming of the mechanism shouldan over-size blank be accidentally supplied; and for allowing quick andeasy changes to the mechanism to adapt it for handling blanks of onesize or another.

The invention will be more clearly understood, and all the variousfeatures thereof made plain, from the following description, when takenin connection with the accompanying drawings which show, by way ofexample, an embodiment of the invention as now favored for use with amachine of the Barry type, and wherein the manually fed carrier is arotatable disk.

In said drawings:

Fig. 1 is a view mainly in top plan showing said embodiment operativelyassociated with said machine, but with only enough parts of the latterillustrated as is necessary to a full understanding of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section, taken substantially on the line 2-2 ofFig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1, showing on an enlarged scale certainof the parts of Fig. 1, with various overlying parts considerably brokenaway.

Fig. 4 is a vertical section, taken substantially on the line 4-4 ofFig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a detail view, looking in the direction of the arrow 5 of Fig.3.

Fig. 6 is a vertical section, taken substantially on the line 66 of Fig.5.

Fig. '7 is a horizontal section, taken substantially on the line 11 ofFig. 6.

Referring first to the parts of the Barry machine shown, the spindlesare marked S, and the numeral [0 denotes a straight stretch, passingacross the front of the machine, in the path of travel of an endlessspindle conveyor. This conveyor is made up of spindle-carrying upper andlower sleeves II and I2; the upper sleeves ll being interlinked by meansof pairs of lugs [3 carried by these sleeves and which pivotally mountbell-cranks M coupled by bolts I l, and the lower sleeves beingsimilarly interlinked. The spindles are vertically movable in thesesleeves, so as to be suitably varied in elevation on reaching differentpoints in their path of travel, as by raising them to bring the buttonblanks on their tops into the fields of operation of variousinstrumentalities not shown for working on such blanks at locations awayfrom the stretch I I]. A part of the means for varying the elevation ofthe spindle tops is illustrated, the same being a cam-rail l5 over whichthe bottoms of the spindles slide during movement of the spindles alongthe stretch lflthis rail having a descending incline i511 (Fig. 2) forpermitting the spindles, by their own weight, to lower themselves asthey come nto the stretch l0.

The endless path of travel for the spindle conveyor includes, atopposite ends of said stretch l0, semi-circular stretches established bythe conveyor proceeding around a pair of like wheels I6 on verticalshafts I! in such manner that the shaped outer ends I 8 of arms l9radially offset from the wheels successively embrace the upper and lowerspindle-carrying sleeves H and I2.

Through suitable driving means not shown, these wheels are always inrotation in a direction to insure continuous movement of a line ofspindles S along the stretch ID in the direction of the arrow 20.

Each spindle S has an upper mushroom-like enlargement 2 l, centrallyabove which is an upstanding adjustable chuck 22 establishing a seat 23into which a blank is to be laid fiat during travel of the spindlesalong the stretch ID. A clearer understanding of the showing of thedrawings will be had if, as to these usual parts of a spindle S, Figs. 1and 4 are compared.

To conclude this preliminary brief description of the ordinary Barrymachine, a steadying means for holding the spindles in line during theirtravel along the stretch I0 is provided in part by a guide rail 24,hearing against the lower sleeves 12 around substantially all thespindles in said stretch, and by a shorter guide rail oppositely bearingagainst the upper sleeves II around a plurality of the spindles near thecenter of such stretch. This shorter guide rail is provided by the frontface of a shelf 25 secured to the top of a standard 26 (Fig. 4) suitablyfixed in place in the machine.

Now referring to the button blank feeding means of the presentinvention, as exemplified in the embodiment thereof illustrated, thesame as shown includes a rotatable disk 28 having a series of uniformlyspaced apertures 29 therethrough arranged in a circle concentric withthe axis of rotation of the disk. Almost all of these apertures, orcups, as they will from now on be called, are always closed at theirbottoms during rotation of the disk, due to the fact that an underlyingring-form fixed structure 30 has a plane horizontal top surface 30a, inthe form of a substantially closed annulus, always below all but a fewof the cups. The structure 30 is supported, by means of a pair ofoppositely offset brackets 31 and 32, on uprights 33 attached to themain frame F; these brackets including clampingblocks 3 la and 32a foranchoring the structure 30 at the desired height above the level oftravel of the spindle seats as the spindles move along the stretch Ill.

At its front the structure 30 carries a tray 34 for holding a largesupply of button blanks 35 to be manually inserted in the cups 29, by anattendant seated in front of the tray, during rotation of the disk 28 inthe direction indicated by the arrow thereon.

On top of and secured to the disk is a capplate 36 having an upstandinghub 36a secured by a. set-screw 36 to a shaft 31 journalled in bearings38 and 39; said shaft having a removable cap-member 31a secured thereonby a screw as shown. The bearing 38 forms part of a spider portionformed in the structure 30 and one of the leg members of which is shownin part at 40 in Fig. 3. The bearing 39 is carried by a bracket 4|bolted to the structure 30 as indicated at Ma in Fig. 2. Fast on theshaft 37 is a spur gear 42, meshing with a pinion 43 fixed on a shaft43a journalled in the structure 30 (Figs. 2 and 3) and in a bearing 44(Fig. 2) carried by the bracket 4 I. Also fast on the shaft 43a is asprocket-wheel 45,

so placed relative to the stretch I that as the spindles movecontinuously at a uniform speed along said stretch and successivelyenterthe successive slots of the wheel 45, each spindle rotates thewheel through 30 degrees for each advance of the spindles a distancemeasured by the spacing between spindles. Due to the ratio between thegear 42 and the pinion 43, the disk 28 is at the same time given afractional rotation, in the direction of the arrow marked thereon inFig. 2, to an extent measured by the spacing between cups 29.

By virtue of these arrangements, an attendant seated in front of thetray 34, by placing a plurality of blanks on and variously shifting themover the smooth upper surface of the relatively slowly moving disk 28,in the zone thereover within convenient manual reach, can easily keeppace with the machine when it is being operated at such speed that 12 ormore spindles pass along the stretch l 0 per minute, to insure that thedisk is always advancing a full line of blanks, each in a cup 29immediately ahead of which is a blankfilled such cup, toward apredetermined location above and adjacent to the stretch Hi.

This location is the top of a chute 46 extended down as indicated inFig. 3 and as shown more clearly in Fig. 4, from the upper surface 30aof the structure at to a table 41 placed to closely overlie a part ofthe path of travel of the spindle seats during travel of the spindlesalong the stretch Ill. The structure 30 is cut away where it wouldotherwise extend over the table; and consequently there is aninterruption of said surface Sta, in so far as it acts as a bottomingagent for the cups 29, from the upper end of the chute to just beyond astraight-line boundary 48 of such cut-out. Thus as each cup 29, carryinga blank 35, arrives over the upper end of the chute, that blank isdischarged down the chute.

The chute 46 is part of a unitary element including a rectangularpositioning plate 46a fitted in a recess 49 in the top of structure 30and of the same size and shape as said plate, so that the upper surfaceof the plate forms a smooth flush continuation or rather a part of thesurface 30a annularly on the top of the structure 30 for bottoming thecups 29 until one by one at intervals they pass beyond said platethereupon to drop their blanks into the top of the chute.

At its side away from the front of the machine the table 41 has adependent leaf 411a removably attached by screws 50a to a slidecarrier50. This carrier is fixed in the position shown in Figs. 3 and 4 on theshelf 25 after being adjusted to the proper position by means includingtwo adjusting screws 50 and 52. On the shelf is a dovetail 53, alongwhich is horizontally slidable the bottom horizontal limb of an L-shapedbracket 54, and along the vertical limb of said bracket is a dovetail.55, along which is vertically slidable the slide-carrier 5|]. Theadjusting screw 5!, engaged adjacent its head em in a bearing 56 carriedby the shelf 25, is at its opposite end threaded in the bracket 54 asindicated at 5! in Fig. 4. The adjusting screw engaged adjacent its head52a in a bearing til carried at the top of the bracket 54, is at theopposite end threaded in the slide-carrier 50 as indicated at 52 in Fig.4.

The slide-carrier 50 is shown as a block hollowed out from top to bottomto provide a slot till attended by two long sides of the carrier havingvertical and parallel inner surfaces, and with the tops of said sidesflat in the same horizontal plane.

The slide for this carrier, which slide is generally indicated at 59, ismade up of a horizontally extending plate-like portion including aU-shaped subdivision 59a, one of the legs of which terminates in ablank-ejector in the form of a plunger 59!); the other leg of thissubdivision merging into a lateral extension 590 somewhat shorter inlength than the slot 58 and of a width substantially as great as that ofthe slide-carrier 50. The table 4'! is mounted on the slide-carrier sothat its upper surface is flush with the top of the slide-carrier. Theslide 59 all over has a flat bottom, except where such bottom isinterrupted by a slide-block 6!] dependent from and secured to the slide59 by bolts El. This slideblock, extending centrally along the bottom ofthe lateral extension 590 of the slide, and as long as said extension,has its parallel sides perpendicular to the flat bottom of the slide,and is of a thickness to have a nice sliding fit in the slot 58. Thestructure comprised by the slide 59 and the slide-block 6U rests bygravity on an extensive horizontal surface in part made up of the top oftable 41 and in part made up of the top of slide-carrier 50, and so thefunctioning of the slide-block is merely to hold the plunger 59!) tostraight-line travel as prevised when said plunger is to be advancedwith its bottom resting directl on the table.

An end portion of said slide-block (ill is seen in side elevation infull lines in Fig. 4; and the opposite end thereof then lies directlybehind the line 4'! marking a vertical edge of the leaf 4M by which thetable 41 is secured as above to the slide-carrier 5U.

Stops for limiting forward and retrograde movements of the plunger 5%are provided on the slide-carrier as shown in Fig. 3, one being a plate62, and the other being a screw 63; the parts being normally held asshown by a light, quickacting retractile spring 64 connected at one endto the slide 59 and at its other end to the slidecarrier 60.

The parts are always thus arranged when, following an advance of thedisk 28 to discharge one of the blanks 35 by moving the cup 29containing that blank over the top of the chute 46, said blank slidesdown the chute to come to rest ahead of the plunger 59?) as indicated at35, in that part of a channel or guideway 66 which is fiaringly enlargedtoward the plunger. Such flare, in a direction away from the plunger,opens into a section of the guideway of uniform width all the way to thedischarge edge 41?] of the table.

The table is apertured at 61', so that should a blank at any time, as bybeing transported with the disk 28 but not in a cup 29, drop within theU-shaped subdivision 59d of the slide 59, the blank will drop throughsaid aperture to avoid possible jamming of the mechanism.

The guideway 66 is established at one side by a member 68 which isriveted to the table 41 at 69. At the other side of the guideway is anassemblage of parts including a member 1!] like the member 68 andlikewise fixed in place on the table 41, and having pivoted thereon at Ha plate 12 having a depending skirt 12a resting at its lower edge on thetopof the table and shaped vertically where it faces the guideway $6 toestablish a side of said guideway which all along the length thereof issymmetrical with the side of the guideway established by the member 68,relative to the line of forward travel of the center point across thenose of the plunger 59b, which line is midway between the opposite sidesof the guideway section of uniform width and precisely vertically abovethe line of travel of the center of a spindle seat below the table. Theskirt 12a is spaced somewhat from the member 10, but yieldingly so, sothat when a blank larger than the ones being handled accidentally isdelivered into the guideway 66, the forward stroke of the plunger cannotpossibly jam said blank in the driveway. To this end, a threaded stud 13is secured at one end to the skirt 12a, and passes through an openingextended transversely through the member III as shown, which opening isenlarged at 7011 to house an expansile spring 14 and horizontallywidened at 10b to allow slight rocking of the stud when the plate 12 isrocked on its pivot "H. Yield of the plate 12 to allow emergencywidening of the guideway 66 is limited by the member 10; while the studI3 is provided with a nut and lock-nut couple, as indicated at 13a, forprecise and secure setting of the parts to cause the spring 14 normallyto hold the skirt 12a in such position that the outer section of theguideway of uniform width will be maintained as above-described duringhandling of blanks of the size intended to be handled.

Transversely extended over a part of the guideway 66 is a roofing member15 one end of which rests on the plate 12 and the other end of which issecured at 15' to the top of member 68; this member having a lip a.upwardly extended therefrom toward the top of the chute 46 and so placedrelative to the bottom of the chute that a blank coming down the latterso as bouncingly to strike the guideway engages the underside of saidlip and is guided by the same to fall fiat into the space between thenose of the plunger and the flaring sides of the guideway.

At the bottom of the slide block 60 is pivotally mounted a finger 16,held by a heavy retractile spring 1! to an angular set as shown inbroken lines in Fig. 3 and so as to have its free end in the path ofmovement of a spindle during passage of the spindle below the table 41.As the parts are shown in Fig. 3, a spindle under the table has advancedjust far enough to abut against the finger. A lug 1601. on the finger,and shown in full lines at the upper part of Fig. 3, is forced by thespring 11 against a screw 18 carried by the slide-block 60; so that byadjustment of this screw, which is threaded in an extension 60a shown inFig. 4 as dependent from one end of the slide-block, said angular set ofthe finger 16 can be provided for exactly as desired. The spring 11 isconnected at one end to the lug (Fig. 3) and at its other end to theslide-block extension 60a (Fig. 4). This spring is stiff enough, ascompared with the relative ease of travel of the slide 59 toward theright in Fig. 3, to prevent rocking of the finger on its pivot 19;thereby to cause the latter to move with said spindle, and consequentlyto cause the plunger The speed of advance of the plunger is the same asthat of the spindle, because the spring 71 prevents a movement of thespindle relative to the finger-pivot I9, and hence there is relativeimmovability between the finger 16 and the spindle. Also, the finger isso angularl set on its pivot 19 by proper adjustment of the screw 18that at the instant the plunger starts its forward movement to begin toadvance the blank with the spindle, the center of the spindle seat isvertically below a horizontal line across the guideway 66 perpendicularto the line of travel of the plunger and containing the center of theblank. Furthermore, the blank, following its entrance into the outerguideway section of uniform width, is kept to a straight-line advancealong a path directly overlying the similar path of advance of thespindle seat, and the blank is held to this advance until it has beenprojected so far off the table as to drop by its own weight therefrom.In this last connection, it will be noted that the member 68 and theskirt 12a are prolonged sufficiently beyond the discharge edge 41b ofthe table to have these elements 68 and 1241 act guidingly on theopposite sides of the blank even after the front end of the blank hasbeen given a considerable degree of projection beyond said edge.

Consequently, all the while the blank and the spindle seat to receivethe blank are simultaneously moving toward and beyond the discharge edge41b of the table, up until the instant'the blank clears the table top todrop fiat into the spindle seat, the center of the spindle seat isprecisely vertically below the center of the blankso that the front endof the blank is directly vertically above the front end of the spindleseat not only when the latter starts to emerge from under the table butalso all during the continuation of this emergence prior to the time ofdrop of the blank off the table and into the seat; with the result thatthe blank in every instance is certainly properly received in thespindle seat.

The described actionof the spring TI is not interfered with until theplunger has performed such a Working stroke as will deposit the blank inthe spindle seat as just described. At the end of this stroke, the slidestructure carrying the plunger 5% is halted by the stop-screw 63, and

thereby the finger is rocked despite the spring '11 to allow passing ofthe spindle beyond the finger. Thereupon the spring 17 restores thefinger to the position shown in Fig. 3, while the spring 64, tensionedby the just concluded forward stroke of the plunger, causes the latterto perform its retraction stroke to bring it again to the position shownin Fig 3 and in readiness to have supplied to it the next blank on thedisk 28. Just before the next succeeding spindle arrives under theplunger, said blank is thus supplied, its carrying cup 29 having arrivedin time for this over the top of the chute 46.

The spindle last-mentioned, and each following spindle, when each ofthese spindles arrives under the table 4'! below the plunger 5%,similarly coacts with the finger l6, and in such timed relation with themovement of the disk 28 that a blank 35 is delivered to the table infront of the plunger as in Fig. 3 just before each such coaction. Thusas each spindle moves along under the table 4'! the blank intended forthe seat of that spindle moves with the spindle in such manner thatincidental to passing of said seat beyond the edge 47b of the table saidblank drops fiat intosaid seat.

It should be explained that the Barry machine is so constructed that theupper portions of the spindles carrying the chucks 22 within which arethe spindle seats 23 are readily removable, so that chucks for receivingone size of blank can be readily replaced by chucks for handling anothersize of blank; and also that these chucks, hereabove described asadjustable, are adjustable in the sense that by the operation of theBarry machine they are automatically opened up during approach of thespindles to the stretch Hi, toiacilitate the previous direct manualinsertion of the blanks in the seats, and they are antomaticallycontracted after leaving the stretch it to hold the blanks concentricwith the spindle centers while the blanks are worked on by the machine.In other words, when by the mechanism of the present invention a blankis discharged frcm the table 41 to drop flat into a spindle seat, thisseat is then of a diameter somewhat exceeding that of the blank; whichis perhaps one reason why in practice the present invention operates sounerringly.

The embodiment of the invention herein described can be easily andquickly adapted, after completion of a run of blanks of one size, forhandling av run of blanks of another size. By 30 way of the screws 50a,the table 41 can be removed, and another table substituted thereforhaving elements corresponding to the elements t8 and 12a so placed onthe substituted table to establish a guideway like the guideway 66 butlaterally dimensioned to agree with the size of blank now to be handled.To facilitate this change of tables, the disk 28 is removed; inpreparation for which it is merely necessary to take out the screwholding the cap-member 37a on the top of shaft 31, and loosen theset-screw 36'. By removal of the disk 28, also, the chute All is madequickly replaceable by another similar chute but one laterallydimensioned to agree with the new size blank.

While there has been illustrated and described in great detail a nowpreferred embodiment of the invention, the latter may be otherwiseembodied as well as variations made in the illustrated embodiment,Without departing from the spirit of 50 the invention, and parts of theimprovements may be used without others; and so the invention is not tobe limited to the constructions and arrangements herein set forth, butthe scope of protection contemplated is to be taken from the 55 claimsfollowing, interpreted as broadly as is consistent with the prior art.

I claim: 1. In a mechanism for feeding button blanks to seats in thetops of a succession of vertical 60 spindles during travel of the latterat a uniform speed along a straight-line path, the combination, with atable overlying said path and having an edge transverse to said pathtoward and beyond which edge said spindles travel, of a 65 slide; aplunger carried by the slide and having its head resting on said table,said head for engaging a blank lying flat on the table and thrustingsaid blank to and over said edge for gravity drop into a spindle seat assaid seat passes 70 said edge; guiding means for holding the slide toforward and retraction straight-line strokes parallel to said path;means for halting said retraction stroke when the plunger head is inrear of said edge by a distance greater than the diameter 75 of a blank;a spring for normally holding the slide retracted against said haltingmeans; blank guiding means relative to which the slide is reciprocable,said blank guiding means extended over the table from near said edge tonear the plunger head when the slide is in retracted position; a stop onthe slide; an arm pivotally mounted on the slide and having a partengageable with said stop, said arm being shaped and pivotally mountedon the slide so that when engaged with said stop an end of the arm ispositioned for engagement by a spindle moving toward said edge at theinstant the tail end of the spindle seat is substantially verticallybelow the plunger head and so that the spindle thrust against the arm isin a direction to swing it away from said stop, said arm being thusswingable to clear the spindle; means for insuring that the arm andslide will move as one unit and hence the plunger will move at preciselythe same speed as the spindle in response to its thrust against the arm,said means including a spring connecting the arm and the slide andacting to force the arm against the stop, said spring being strongerthan the spring first-mentioned to maintain the arm against the stop byvirtue of yield of the spring first-mentioned during a forward stroke ofthe slide to advance the plunger head sufficiently to thrust a blank togravity-drop projection over said edge; and means for predeterminedlycausing thrust of the spindle against said arm to overcome said strongerspring and swing the arm away from said stop, the means lastmentionedincluding a stop positioned to engage and halt forward movement of theslide, thereby to permit movement of the spindle beyond the haltedslide, and thereby in turn to free said arm from the spindle and sopermit the spring first-mentioned to retract the slide, to which endthis spring is strong enough to overcome the friction between the slideand its guiding means.

2. In a mechanism for feeding button blanks to seats in the tops of asuccession of vertical spindles during travel of the latte-r at auniform speed along astraight-line path, the combination of a table forsupporting fiat thereon a blank for deposit in a spindle seat by gravitydrop over an edge of the table overlying and transverse to said path assaid seat passes beyond said edge; a slide; a plunger fixed on the slideand having its head resting on the table; a guiding means for the slideto hold the plunger head to a straight-line travel in the direction oftravel of the spindle; a second guiding means relative to which theplunger moves and coacting with the table for guiding said blank tostraight-line travel in said direction under thrust of the plunger headtoward said edge; a spindleengaging means carried by the slide forcausing the plunger head to be moved by the spindle in said directionand precisely at the same speed as the spindle until the spindle seatpasses beyond said edge, said means including an arm, means pivotallymounting the arm on the slide, a stop on the slide, said arm swingabletoward and away from said stop, said arm when swung against said stopbeing extended into the path of travel of said spindle for engagement bythe latter to urge said arm away from said stop at the instant when thetail end of the spindle seat is substantially vertically below theplunger head, said arm being swingable away from the stop to clear thespindle, and a spring strong enough to hold the arm against the stopdespite said thrust of the spindle against said arm; and means forcausing a retraction stroke of the slide, said means including a springweaker than the spring first-mentioned for returning the slide toretracted position when the arm is swung away from the stop to clear thespindle, and a second stop, fixed relative to the table, for overcomingthe spring first-mentioned to allow thrust of the spindle against thearm to swing the latter to clear the spindle when the forward stroke ofthe 10 slide has advanced the plunger head sufliciently to thrust theblank to gravity-drop projection over said edge.

3. In mechanism for advancing a button blank for gravity-drop deliveryto a seat in the top of a vertical spindle during travel of the latter,the combination of a receiving table for a blank to support the samefiat; a reciprocable plunger movable toward an edge of the table forthrust against the blank to project it beyond said edge for gravity-dropinto said seat as said seat passes beyond said edge, the table sooverlying the line of travel of the spindle that its seat passes underthe table toward and beyond said edge; a blank guiding means includingthe table for maintaining the blank in line with the plunger during saidthrust; yielding means for retracting the plunger and tending to hold itin retracted position; an advancing means for the plunger operated bytravel of the spindle, said means including a spindle interceptor, meansmounting said interceptor on the plunger and including an operativeconnection to permit movement of the interceptor relative to the plungerfor clearing the interceptor from the spindle under thrust of thelatter, and means including yielding means more resistant to yield thanthe yielding means firstmentioned for preventing relative movementbetween the interceptor and the spindle thereby to permit thrust of thespindle against the interceptor to advance the plunger at precisely thesame speed as the spindle; and means fixed relative to the table forovercoming the secondnamed yielding means when the forward stroke of theplunger has proceeded sufficiently to thrust the blank to gravity-dropprojection over said edge.

4. A mechanism as in claim 3, in which said blank guiding means includesa pair of elongate members above and spaced over the table to establishbetween them a guideway having oppositely facing side walls one carriedby each of said members, said members being so shaped that said wallsprovide an outer length of uniform width for said guideway and an innerlength for said guideway which gradually increases in width toward thelocation of the plunger in its retracted position.

5. A mechanism as in claim 3, in which said guiding means includes apair of elongate members shaped and spaced over said table to formbetween them and with the table top a guideway for a blank during itstravel under thrust of the plunger toward said table edge, said guidewaybeing of uniform width over a length thereof ad jacent to and at saidedge and along this length thereof having a bottom wall provided by thetable top as well as side walls provided by said members, said membersbeing prolonged beyond said edge to open the bottom of said guidewaybetween the length thereof measured by said prolongations.

6. A mechanism as in claim 3, in which said guiding means includes apair of elongate parallel structures coacting with the table top to forma straight channel of uniform width adjacent to said table edge, one ofsaid structures being fixed to the table, and the other including anelongate support fixed to the table, an elongate plate, means mountingsaid plate on the side of said support facing the other of saidstructures, and yielding means for normally maintaining said plate at apredetermined spacing from the structure first-mentioned to allow saidplate to be forced in toward said support during movement of anover-size blank through said channel.

7. A mechanism as in claim 3, in which said blank guiding means includesa pair of elongate members above and spaced over the table to establishbetween them a guideway having oppositely facing side walls one carriedby each of said members, said members being so shaped that said wallsprovide an outer length of uniform width for said guideway and an innerlength for said guideway which gradually increases in width toward thelocation of the plunger in its retracted position, and in which there isa chute overlying said outer length and downwardly inclined in adirection opposite to that of forward travel of the plunger and havingits lower end transverse to said inner length and adjacent to thejoining of the latter with the outer length.

8. A mechanism as in claim 3, in which said blank guiding means includesa pair of elongate members above and spaced over the table to establishbetween them a guideway having oppositely facing side walls one carriedby each of said members, said members being so shaped that said wallsprovide an outer length of uniform width for said guideway and an innerlength for said guideway which gradually increases in width toward thelocation of the plunger in its retracted position; in which there is achute overlying said outer length and downwardly inclined in a directionopposite to that offorward travel of the plunger and having its lowerend transverse to said inner length and adjacent to the joining of thelatter with the outer length; and in which there is a roofing plate oversaid inner length, high enough to clear said plunger, and there is a lipupwardly extended away from said plate in the direction of forwardstroke of the plunger and overlying a part of the length of the chutenear its lower end and high enough above the chute to clear a blanksliding down the chute.

9. A mechanism as in claim 1, in which said slide includes asubstantially horizontally lying U-shaped plate-like subdivision restingon the table, one of the legs of the U forms said plunger, the interiorof the U at the bowl thereof facing in the direction of forward strokeof the plunger, and there is an opening through the table between thelegs of the U and spaced ahead of the bowl of the U a distancesubstantially equal to the length of forward stroke of the plunger whenthe latter is in retracted position, whereby the U provides a sweep forengaging a blank on the table out of line with the plunger and advancingsaid blank to said opening for discharge therethrou h by forward strokeof the slide.

WARREN E KNOTT.

